FAA Names Members of High-Level Drone Advisory Committee

The FAA has named 35 business, association, municipal and academic leaders to serve on a new Drone Advisory Committee (DAC) to advise it on introducing unmanned aircraft into the national airspace system. RTCA, a not-for-profit organization that functions as a federal advisory body to the FAA, announced the membership on August 31.

The committee’s first public meeting is scheduled for September 16 at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta revealed the agency’s plan to establish a drone committee representing industry at the Xponential 2016 conference in New Orleans in May. He said he had asked Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, who is a pilot, to serve as its chairman. The DAC is modeled on the high-level NextGen Advisory Committee the FAA formed in 2010—also under RTCA’s auspices—to advise it on ATC modernization.

Innovation in unmanned aircraft systems "is moving at the speed of Silicon Valley. So it only makes sense that we asked a Silicon Valley leader to help us with this important step,” Huerta said in May. The DAC “is intended to be a long-lasting group that will essentially serve the same purpose as the FAA’s NextGen Advisory Committee,” he added.

“The NAC has helped the FAA hone in on improvements that mean the most to the industry and has helped build broad support for our overall direction. And we envision the drone advisory panel playing the same role on UAS integration, including helping us prioritize our work.”

Comments

Crashdetective

September 2, 2016 - 4:43pm

The list of folks chosen for the Drone Advisory Committee is impressive but lacking on critical element of expertise - a trained aviation safety expert with aircraft accident investigation skills, and who is knowledgeable in drone operations, a certificated drone pilot and user of a drone. It is evident that this group has a diverse background and can discuss flight operations and limitations, but like full scale aircraft, there will be serious incidents and accidents that must be dissected to understand the root causes and determine the appropriate applications of the lessons-learned to improve safety.

I applaud the fact that the DAC was created but it should have some qualified aviation safety expertise.